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The University of Florida marked the grand opening Friday of its contribution to the development, the UF Research and Academic Center at Lake Nona. The $53 million, 106,000-square-foot building includes the Orlando campus of the UF pharmacy college and centers housing research into aging and new drug treatments.

Medical City is envisioned as a biomedical cluster on a 7,000-acre planned community south of the Orlando International Airport. New children's and veterans hospitals, research institutes and the University of Central Florida's health sciences campus are all part of the development.

UF researchers say they'll benefit from being located in close proximity to those facilities and be able to expand research efforts into the sprawling Orlando area.

In Gainesville, "we can impact a couple hundred-thousand patients' lives," said Dr. David Nelson, director of UF's Clinical and Translational Science Institute. "If we're able to translate that into the Orlando health care arena, we can impact millions of people's lives."

The institute, which also is being housed in a new building on the main UF campus, works to turn research into new drugs and therapies. Nelson said the Lake Nona center means that patients unable to drive to Gainesville will have access to clinical studies into medical issues such as the treatment of diabetes.

"We'll be able to help offer more of the Orlando community opportunities to participate in a broader range of clinical research studies," he said.

UF's center also is the new Orlando campus of its pharmacy college, moving from an Apopka center that is mainly home to agricultural research. Eventually, 280 students will be at Lake Nona in a program that combines online learning with on-site study.

The center provides more space for the program and includes new features such as a mock pharmacy, said Erin St. Onge, assistant dean and director of the Orlando campus.

"Students can start practicing in that setting," she said.

They also can work alongside UCF medical and nursing students, she said, providing experience in that kind of collaboration. Other facilities in the Medical City complex provide students with access to researchers for projects required of honors students, she said.

UF's center is located next door to the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. UF President Bernie Machen helped lead the California-based center to put its Florida campus in Orlando, said Dr. David Guzick, UF's vice president for health affairs.

"A big part of the reason that they made that decision is an opportunity to collaborate with the University of Florida," he said.

Machen is now on the board of the center, which does research at its Florida site on obesity-related diabetes and its cardiovascular complications. Medical City also includes the MD Anderson Orlando Cancer Research Institute.

Nemours Children's Hospital is now being opened and a massive Veterans Administration Medical Center is under construction. The largest center of its kind in the country, the new VA hospital will serve about 400,000 veterans.

"Lake Nona is a beautiful opportunity because you have a chance to build really extensive partnerships to help improve health care-related concerns," Nelson said.

The UF facility also includes a center for pharmacometrics, using mathematical models and computer simulations to mimic clinical drug trials. A call center staffed by pharmacy faculty and students provides counseling to Medicare patients on multiple medications. Eventually 200 faculty and staff will work in the building.

The Lake Nona center comes as UF is working to attract research and spinoff companies to the Innovation Square development in Gainesville. Guzick said that site is more focused on information technology while Lake Nona is focused on biomedical research.

"The significance is expanding the research footprint beyond Gainesville," he said.

For now, Medical City is still a work in progress. While residential and commercial development is planned, biomedical and health care facilities are now separated by wide expanses of farmland. Nelson said the area will change dramatically in the years ahead.

"Five to 10 years down the road, this will be a major medical mecca for the state," he said.

Contact Nathan Crabbe at 338-3176 or nathan.crabbe@gvillesun.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/nathancrabbe.

<p>ORLANDO — On hundreds of acres of pasture with planes regularly roaring overhead, a so-called Medical City of health care and biomedical research facilities is taking shape.</p><p>The University of Florida marked the grand opening Friday of its contribution to the development, the UF Research and Academic Center at Lake Nona. The $53 million, 106,000-square-foot building includes the Orlando campus of the UF pharmacy college and centers housing research into aging and new drug treatments.</p><p>Medical City is envisioned as a biomedical cluster on a 7,000-acre planned community south of the Orlando International Airport. New children's and veterans hospitals, research institutes and the University of Central Florida's health sciences campus are all part of the development.</p><p>UF researchers say they'll benefit from being located in close proximity to those facilities and be able to expand research efforts into the sprawling Orlando area.</p><p>In Gainesville, "we can impact a couple hundred-thousand patients' lives," said Dr. David Nelson, director of UF's Clinical and Translational Science Institute. "If we're able to translate that into the Orlando health care arena, we can impact millions of people's lives."</p><p>The institute, which also is being housed in a new building on the main UF campus, works to turn research into new drugs and therapies. Nelson said the Lake Nona center means that patients unable to drive to Gainesville will have access to clinical studies into medical issues such as the treatment of diabetes.</p><p>"We'll be able to help offer more of the Orlando community opportunities to participate in a broader range of clinical research studies," he said.</p><p>UF's center also is the new Orlando campus of its pharmacy college, moving from an Apopka center that is mainly home to agricultural research. Eventually, 280 students will be at Lake Nona in a program that combines online learning with on-site study.</p><p>The center provides more space for the program and includes new features such as a mock pharmacy, said Erin St. Onge, assistant dean and director of the Orlando campus.</p><p>"Students can start practicing in that setting," she said.</p><p>They also can work alongside UCF medical and nursing students, she said, providing experience in that kind of collaboration. Other facilities in the Medical City complex provide students with access to researchers for projects required of honors students, she said.</p><p>UF's center is located next door to the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. UF President Bernie Machen helped lead the California-based center to put its Florida campus in Orlando, said Dr. David Guzick, UF's vice president for health affairs.</p><p>"A big part of the reason that they made that decision is an opportunity to collaborate with the University of Florida," he said.</p><p>Machen is now on the board of the center, which does research at its Florida site on obesity-related diabetes and its cardiovascular complications. Medical City also includes the MD Anderson Orlando Cancer Research Institute.</p><p>Nemours Children's Hospital is now being opened and a massive Veterans Administration Medical Center is under construction. The largest center of its kind in the country, the new VA hospital will serve about 400,000 veterans.</p><p>"Lake Nona is a beautiful opportunity because you have a chance to build really extensive partnerships to help improve health care-related concerns," Nelson said.</p><p>The UF facility also includes a center for pharmacometrics, using mathematical models and computer simulations to mimic clinical drug trials. A call center staffed by pharmacy faculty and students provides counseling to Medicare patients on multiple medications. Eventually 200 faculty and staff will work in the building.</p><p>The Lake Nona center comes as UF is working to attract research and spinoff companies to the Innovation Square development in Gainesville. Guzick said that site is more focused on information technology while Lake Nona is focused on biomedical research.</p><p>"The significance is expanding the research footprint beyond Gainesville," he said.</p><p>For now, Medical City is still a work in progress. While residential and commercial development is planned, biomedical and health care facilities are now separated by wide expanses of farmland. Nelson said the area will change dramatically in the years ahead.</p><p>"Five to 10 years down the road, this will be a major medical mecca for the state," he said.</p><p><i>Contact Nathan Crabbe at 338-3176 or nathan.crabbe@gvillesun.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/nathancrabbe.</i></p>